One More Sad Song
by Black Fingernails
Summary: Ryou and Marik break up over a secret that the latter has been keeping (which also involves Yami Bakura). Can Ryou ever forgive Marik? Maybe a special song can help change his mind?
1. Secrets and a Song

**READ THIS. IT'S IMPORTANT TO THE STORY-**

_(**A/N:** Ok, just so people aren't emailing me saying "WTF mate?" I didn't change the lyrics of this song (by the All American Rejects) much because I wasn't clever enough to come up with a way to incorporate a gay relationship into this song. I just switched the 'he's and the 'she's. Also, I am too lazy to somehow integrate an interpretation of the song from Ryou's POV regarding the genders. Just assume that Ryou somehow understands that he is the girl, Marik is referred to as the boy. Why? Because Ryou is feminine and he knows it. )_

……………………………………………………………………………

**For Ryou: One More Sad Song**

Ryou hadn't wanted to go to the club where Marik and his band were headlining. But his friends, Yugi and the others, had dragged him along. He had protested bitterly, put up a valiant fight, but to no avail. Yugi had looked up at Ryou with his big purple eyes and pleaded for him to come along, on the basis that he needed to get out of the house, as well as away from an unusually moody Bakura. He said it would be good for him to see his love.  
But they weren't aware of the secret Ryou kept, even from his best friend Yugi. None of them even had suspicions as to why Ryou spent the past week locked in his room, or why the usually psychotically good-natured Bakura was so moody as of late. They knew nothing of the heartbreak Marik inflicted or the awful secret he kept. Nor did they know of the bitter breakup between Ryou and the one he loved so.……………………………………………………………………………………………  
They were late to the show. Marik was already onstage performing when Ryou entered the club. He glared as the blonde expertly fingered his guitar; the one Ryou had bought him for Christmas two years ago, as he sang out his self-composed lyrics to an eager audience. Ryou snorted loudly as Marik winked and flirted with the ecstatic girls in the front row.  
"I'll be outside," He murmured to Yugi.  
"Oh….okay," Yugi frowned with concern. "Don't you want to watch the show?"  
Ryou only huffed in response.  
"Ryou, are you-"  
"I'm fine, Yugi," He forced a smile. "Thanks." He exited quickly and kept walking until the sound of Marik's voice was nothing but muffled and faint background noise.  
It was a freezing cold winter night. Ryou shivered and wrapped his coat tighter around his thin frame. He watched his breath escape in thin frosty wisps as he idly kicked at the frozen ground beneath his shoes. No one else was around, for which Ryou was thankful for. He wanted to wallow in his misery without any onlookers.  
_Marik…  
_He allowed himself a moment to muse over the beautiful Egyptian boy; his toned body and sun-kissed skin; his lilac eyes framed by black eyeliner and golden blonde hair, which contrasted in the most striking way…  
'_NO! STOP!'_ Ryou's brain screamed. "Aaaaaarrrrgggggghhhh!" He screamed into the night air. Silence met his ears, and Ryou realized at that moment that he had never felt more alone.  
He had lost the only person he had ever been in love with. And there was no way he could tell his friends, even Yugi. It had taken so long for them to accept his relationship with Marik, especially after the events of Battle City. (They had even accepted his now open homosexuality with less hardship). He knew that they spoke in hushed whispers about how it would never last. They were too different, they had said. Far too different…  
They would never understand. He envisioned the likely scenario that would unfold were he to go to his friends: Tea would offer to play matchmaker, with herself and Mai at the top of the match list (yes, even though he's gay). Tristan, Joey, and Otogi would find baseball bats and vow revenge. And Yugi would comment, in his quiet gentle way, about how Marik was never really right for Ryou anyway.  
Ryou sighed and stared up into the night sky. The stars shone and flickered as he watched.  
'_We are right for each other, though. Whenever we were together, it felt so right. It couldn't have been a mistake. Your heart can't make mistakes when…..when you love someone. The way he held me. The way he looked at me. The way he told me he loved me…'  
_Ryou sighed again, heavier and sadder than before. He looked over his shoulder, back towards the club. "I guess I'd best head back," he muttered to himself. He was determined to leave before Marik had a chance to find him and his friends in the crowd. He wanted to be sure to avoid any uncomfortable situations that were sure to arise if he stayed.

* * *

Marik was still onstage, much to Ryou's chagrin. He didn't seem to notice the white haired boy enter the small room as he casually tuned his guitar. Ryou scoffed with disdain and turned back towards the exit.  
_I'll find Yugi after **he's** back offstage. That way I won't have to see him.  
_"This is the last song for tonight," Marik announced, and a general moaning of disappointment floated up from the crowd. "It's a new song that I wrote just this week. So bear with me if it's a bit shaky." He flashed a quick smile at the audience, but it quickly disappeared and his face grew serious. "It's called _One More Sad Song_…and its dedicated to my love Ryou." He lifted his eyes to stare through tussled blonde hair to where Ryou stood frozen with his hand on the doorknob.  
'_How did he know I was here?_' Ryou wondered.  
The drummer clicked his sticks together to get the song started. The second guitar joined in, followed by the bass. Marik finally closed his eyes, and began to strum his guitar as he lowered his lips to the microphone. Ryou felt his bottom lip begin to quiver as he watched in shock. He wanted to run and hide and not deal with this anymore. But deep inside his heart and mind he yearned to stay and listen. Finally after an intense internal struggle his curiosity won over. His hand fell from the doorknob and dangled limply at his side as he turned around to face the stage. 

_"One boy, one girl  
__Two hearts, their world  
__Time goes by, secrets rise"_

'_Their world…our world._' Ryou thought. '_It was our world. No one else was able to understand our love. One only we knew and understood. Only us. Our world only. But then…the secrets…'_

"_One more sad song  
__Tears shed, she's gone  
__He'd take it back  
__If he only could"_

Ryou knew Marik was truly sorry for what he had done. And he knew Marik would do anything to change the past. _"If he only could…"  
__'But he can't!' _Ryou told himself. It wasn't possible. No amount of tears shed could change the hard reality of the matter: Marik was gone.

"_And all his perfect words  
__They seem so wrong  
__She's gone"_

"I'll always be yours." Marik had whispered into Ryou's ear after the first night they had spent together. "I'll always be with you, and no one else but you…forever."  
The once romantic words seemed cruel and mocking now.

"_You wish that you could learn to see  
__The door is closed and you wish you could be  
__Alone with you, alone with me  
__What can I do? I cannot breathe  
__My heart is torn for all to see  
__Alone with you, alone with me"_

The breakup had left Ryou spending hours in his room, barely eating or even getting out of bed. He had tried so desperately to forgive Marik. He searched his heart over and over and over again for some spark of forgiveness. But none was to be found…


	2. Change of Heart

"_Best friend, worst thing_

_He's been cheating_

_Friend deceives, he leaves"_

"Hikari, I have something to tell you."

"Yes Bakura? What's wrong?" Ryou's bright brown eyes were wide with curiosity and dread. Perhaps Bakura had finally succeeded in his mission to flush Hamsterdam, the "demonically bewitched" hamster down the toilet? But then he probably wouldn't look so distressed…

"Don't hate me Ryou. You know I love you…"

"Yes…"

"And I would never do anything to hurt you intentionally."

"Yes…"Ryou laughed uneasily. "What is it, Bakura? What in the world did you do that is so bad?"

Bakura took a deep breath. "….Okay…." He shut his eyes tightly. " Hikari….well…I've….well…you see…"

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "Yes….?"

"Marik and I…I mean…"

"Spill it Bakura!" Ryou shouted, unable to contain his nervousness upon hearing his lover's name mentioned as being involved in whatever secret his Yami kept.

Bakura inhaled sharply, and his eyes shot open and locked on to Ryou's. "Marik and I have been sleeping together for the past month and a half." His words poured out quickly and hit Ryou like a ton of bricks. His brain froze. The blood rushed out of his head and his heart pounded in his ears. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words caught in his throat.

"Ryou…Hikari…say something…." Bakura pleaded.

Ryou open and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to force words to come, but succeeding only in looking like a suffocating fish. Finally, a single word pushed its way forth from his lips: "Why?"

Bakura sighed. "I don't know why Ryou. We never meant for anything to happen. We were drunk, and everything just happened…and kept happening…" He finished quietly, bowing his head.

"Drunk? So that's why you and he have been out so often?" Ryou growled. "So you could get drunk and go fuck!"

"No Ryou! That's not how it happened!" Bakura shouted, pride and anger temporarily overriding his guilt. Ryou's eyes welled up with tears, and Bakura immediately regretted his outburst. "That's not how it happened." He repeated, his shame returning to him quickly.

Ryou could no longer hold back his anger, and with a frustrated cry he lunged at his Yami, arm outstretched with fist clenched, aiming square for Bakura's jaw. In one swift motion, Bakura reached out and caught hold of his Hikari's wrist before Ryou was able to strike him. Ryou unclenched his fist, letting his wrist hang limply in Bakura's grip. He hung his head, his snowy white locks covering his tear-stained face.

He fell to his knees, burying his face in his free arm and sobbing uncontrollably. Bakura winced at the sight of his hikari so distressed (and partially because of his doing), and knelt beside Ryou. "Ryou…Hikari….I never meant to hurt you like this….nor did Marik….please, please forgive us."

_"Last date, she cries_

_Whispers 'goodbye'_

_He walks once more_

_Out that door"_

"Ryou, what's been bothering you so much lately?" Marik asked, shifting positions slightly to stare at his lover sitting beside him on the couch. "You seem so … down."

Ryou said nothing and Marik frowned slightly with concern. "Ryou…" He leaned closer as he lifted his arm to wrap it around the boy's shoulders. Ryou shyed away from Merik's touch and repositioned himself further down the couch. Marik sighed. "Ryou please…talk to me. Tell me what's wrong." He pleaded. "I love you so much and it hurts me to see you like this, especially when you won't let me help….I miss being close to you…I haven't held you in my arms for days."

"And that bothers you?" Ryou inquired softly.

Marik paused, running over the question in his mind and trying to comprehend why such an odd thing was asked of him, especially right after he just got done expressing his concern. "Yes Ryou, of course it does. You know how much I love you, and love holding you and being around you." He placed a hand on Ryou's arm for a moment before the other pulled away. "If you don't want to be intimate for a while, that's fine, but I'd at least like to know why."

"Oh yeah, of course its fine!" Ryou spat as he leapt to his feet. "Why the hell would you need me when you have my Yami?"

Marik blinked, taken aback by both the accusation and Ryou's uncharacteristic harshness. "Whu..what?" he stuttered.

"Oh, don't act like you haven't a clue what I'm talking about!" He screamed. "Bakura told me everything! Everything!" He screamed.

Marik gaped at Ryou. "Bakura…he…told you?"

"Everything! He had the balls to come to me and admit it!" He growled. "Unlike you!" He stuck a condemning finger in Marik's face.

Marik cringed at Ryou's hateful words. "Ryou….I…"

"And I was foolish enough to believe you when you said you loved me, You used me….And I hate you for it…" He whispered these last venomous words.

The Egyptian boy didn't move a muscle. He couldn't. He stared at Ryou, face frozen in shock and hurt. He tried to speak, tried to say something, anything, but nothing could be pushed forth, save for a soft strangled noise coming from his throat.

Finally, his throat opened and allowed words to come. "Ryou…I'm so sorry." He whispered hoarsely. "I never meant to hurt you. I…we…we were drunk."

"So I heard," Ryou snarled.

"It didn't mean anything. We didn't know what we were doing…I _DO_ love you Ryou-kun. I love you, and I made a huge mistake. Please forgive me…I never meant to hurt you like this."

Ryou stared at him for a moment, tears streaming down his delicate cheeks, leaving wet glistening streaks which seemed to make his pale face glow lightly. Marik hoped that he saw forgiveness in the glow, and he allowed himself to hope that the snowy haired boy would throw open his arms, and allow Marik to embrace him, hold him close, and tell him that he was forgiven.

But Ryou only stared at him with a fierceness foreign to his character. "Leave….."He whispered severely. "Now!"

"Ryou…" Marik protested.

"Now! Get out!" The level of his voice alarmed Marik to such extent that he jumped quickly to his feet and took a few steps back. "Okay Ryou," he said, his voice ragged and cracking. "If that's….if that's what you want…" he paused, hopeful that Ryou would reconsider the brusque order. But Ryou only turned his head away from Marik, his teary eyes foncused on the wall. The Egyptian nodded silently to himself in quiet resignation, and then turned to the door. He slowly pulled open the door, then turned back to look on the face of his former lover for the last time.

"Goodbye…" He heard Ryou whisper just before he shut the door behind him.

_"(Please, please, please...)_

_Please stay…_

_Don't go away_

_The hardest thing is_

_Letting go of you_

_What can I do?_

_Alone with me, alone with you"_

Marik drew out the last note on his guitar and then abruptly cut it off as the crowd exploded in applause and cheers. Ryou lifted his head quickly to catch a brief glimpse of Merik's lilac eyes, rimmed with glistening tears, before they disappeared under a cascade of golden hair.

Ryou's own eyes were welled with tears. Trying to let go of Marik had been the hardest thing that he ever had to endure. And no matter how hard he had tried, he had never truly succeeded in fully releasing that part of Marik that had fused itself with his soul.

Ryou caught a glimpse of his friends coming towards him from across the room. He was still too much in shock to answer the inevitable questions, so he quickly jolted out the back door. The cold fresh air felt refreshing against his hot face. He fell back against the frozen brick wall of the building, breathing in deeply and reflecting on the song.

He heard the door open behind him, and he winced. It was probably Yugi come to check on him, as well as barrage him with inquiries. "I don't really feel like talking, Yugi." He muttered without turning around.

"Ryou…" A soft and all too familiar voice caught his ears. He turned around and came face to face with Marik.

"Oh…" He paused. "Hi…"

"Hi…" Marik smiled and scratched the back of his head nervously. "…Um…did you hear the song..?"

"Yes," Ryou replied softly.

"….What did you think?"

"I….I don't know."

Marik's face was the epitome of disappointment and sorrow. "Oh…Oh, ok."

"I just-"

"Its okay Ryou," Marik sighed resignedly. "Don't worry about it. I understand. Marik forced a smile. "Well…thanks for coming out to the show." He said, as if talking to a mere groupie. He turned to leave as Ryou looked at the ground.

"Marik, wait," he murmured.

The blonde turned back around. "Yes?"

Ryou took a step towards him, closing the distance between them. He took Marik's hand in his own, and the look of shock was apparent on the other's face. "Thank you for the song…I loved it…I know you never meant to hurt me, and I know you're sorry." Marik's eyes welled and Ryou squeezed his hand comfortingly. "I don't hate you…you know that. I still love you, and I always will… We were meant for each other, and I really don't think anything is going to keep us apart." He reached up to touch Marik's cheek, and then brought his lips to the others in a passionate and longing kiss. The kiss turned into a embrace, and Marik held the smaller boy to his chest as tightly as he could, running his fingers through his white hair and nuzzling his face into the other's cheek.

"I missed you so much," Marik whispered into Ryou's ear and his voice cracked lightly. "I love you Ryou…I'll always be yours, and yours alone forever."

Fin

Reviews are much appreciated


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